Natural gas is supplied to many homes in the United States by way of underground piping. Liquid Propane (LP) is used mostly in rural areas of the country, where natural gas is not available. LP gas is usually stored in large tanks that sit in your yard. The gas is delivered to your home in a tanker truck and pumped into the tank sitting in the yard. Most A. O. Smith gas water heaters are available from the factory in either gas type liquid propane or natural gas. Both fuel sources can provide consistent hot water for your home.

Before purchasing a high-efficiency gas tank water heater, you should understand what type of fuel you currently have in your home, how much hot water you use on a daily basis, and where your current water heater is installed. A condensing water heater generally uses a different type of venting and requires a floor drain to dispose of condensate. A plumbing contractor can assist in helping you choose a water heater that fits your needs, or you can use the A. O. Smith online XPERT™ Product Selector to help determine which water heater is best for your home.

A. O. Smith high-efficiency gas tank water heaters are built similarly to standard gas tank water heaters with some modifications for higher efficiency and performance. The high-efficiency models are built with helical internal heat exchanger that keeps hot combustion gases in the tank longer to transfer more heat into the water, increasing efficiency and reducing operating cost. These models generally have higher BTU/H inputs, which means the heater can deliver more hot water.

The A. O. Smith line of high-efficiency condensing gas tank water heaters come in a range of gallon sizes and BTU/H burners. Sizing a water heater is not just dependent on the amount of water that it can store at once, but also depends on the maximum BTUs the gas burner can utilize. A. O. Smith has condensing gas tank water heaters that range from a 34- to 75-gallon (nominal) tank capacity and 76,000 BTU/H to 199,000 BTU/H. We recommend that you use the A. O. Smith online XPERT™ Product Selector to determine the exact water heater needs for your home.